This weekend we spent the weekend in Washington, D.C., where I witnessed something that was very powerful without ever intending to be.
What was it?
A woman wearing a hijab climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
I watched her approach the giant statue of Lincoln, stopping in front of it and looking up at it. She stood there for a minute or two and I realized she was staring at the statue and crying.
Much to the chagrin of my wife, I approached her and asked why she was crying. She said that it was because of what the statue represents, that equality is the promise of what it means to be an American, and how proud it made her to BE an American.
THIS is America - where someone, regardless of their religion, can stand in front of what is possibly the greatest symbol of equality in our country and be so proud to be American that it brings them to tears.
I just wish more Americans were as American as that woman is.
What was it?
A woman wearing a hijab climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
I watched her approach the giant statue of Lincoln, stopping in front of it and looking up at it. She stood there for a minute or two and I realized she was staring at the statue and crying.
Much to the chagrin of my wife, I approached her and asked why she was crying. She said that it was because of what the statue represents, that equality is the promise of what it means to be an American, and how proud it made her to BE an American.
THIS is America - where someone, regardless of their religion, can stand in front of what is possibly the greatest symbol of equality in our country and be so proud to be American that it brings them to tears.
I just wish more Americans were as American as that woman is.